Description

About the Book

Since the formulation of Indo-European theory in the 19th c., Sanskrit has been considered the language brought over by the Aryas. This raised the question after the discovery of the Harappan culture: what was the language of the Harappans? This book tries to answer this question.

The Rigveda and the Vedic literature have also been considered the Aryan cultural heritage because in Rigveda clan name of the Aryas remained little known. Having shown that the Asuras and their allies fought with the Aryan migrants and that the Asuras were the Harappans, the author goes on to identify the language spoken and written bt them. With ample language data, analysed with comparative method, the process of linguistic change from the language of Asuras viz Akkadian to Sanskrit is traced in detail. This work, along with her other works, completes the picture and generates a fresh understanding of the complex pattern of prehistory of Indian languages and Indian culture on rational and logical basis. It throws light on many unanswered questions.

About the Author

(Ms) Malati J. Shendge, a well-known Indologist, has already given us three books, viz.,'The Civilized Demons: The Harappans in Rigveda' (1977),' rigveda, the original meaning and its recovery' (1990),' The Aryas: Facts without Fancy and Fiction' (1994), and several articles in learned journals. With this book she completes the presentation of the new approach to the understanding of Indian protohistory.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

ix

Prefatory Note

xi

List of Illustrations

xviii

Abbreviations

xix

I

Introductory

1

II

The Background

3

1. The problem of the Harappan language and the script

3

2. The ethnic identity of the Harappans

4

III

The Formative Elements of the Harappan Culture

7

1. Current hypothesis

7

2. Current evidence

9

3. Discussion

17

4. an alternative hypothesis and evidence for it

19

IV

The Harappan and the Akkadian Chronology

41

1. The arrival of the Harappans in the Indus Valley

41

2. The Antecedents of the Harappans in West Asia

44

V

The Language of the Harappan Script

49

1. The Harappan script and the present hypothesis

49

2. The proto-Dravidian hypothesis examined

51

3. The problem of retroflex consonants

54

4. The checks on the hypothesis

55

5. The invalidity of the formation of proto-Aryan in West Asia

56

VI

The Emergence of the Rgvedic Language

69

1. The authorship of the Rgveda

69

2. Did the Asura language survive?

70

3. The name of the Asura language

73

4. The nature of linguistic change

76

5. Why are these words not considered loans?

80

VII

The President material and its Relevance to Indo-European Studies

83

1. The Indo-European linguistics

83

2. The influence on the dialects

87

3. The comparison with Greek and Akkadian words

93

4. The Biblical Tradition

96

5. Observations on comparisons

98

VIII

Patterns of Phonological Change

105

1. The identifiable phonological and semantic features of Rgvedic lexemes

106

2. The change from Akkadian to Sanskrit

108

3. The basis for a genetic relationship

111

4. Sumerian, Akkadian and Sanskrit phonologies

114

5. Phonological changes

115

6. Phonological analysis

121

IX

The List of Sanskrit and Akkadian Correspondences

201

I. Names of deities

202

II. Names of Asuras Killed by Indra

206

III. Names of the Rgvedic poets, grammarians, and clans

207

IV. Names (or titles) of the Asura functionaries

215

V. General words

220

X

Some Additional Words

253

I. Kinship terms

254

II Names of body parts

256

III. Names of animals

260

IV. Food items

261

V. Miscellaneous

261

VI. Some Marathi words with Akkadian and Sumerian correspondences

264

XI

Conclusion

269

Appendix:

The decree of thong, spur and whip Horse domestication in proto-historic times